Mythological roles
Each of the Homestuck Kids and the Trolls has a mythological role, as hinted at, during various points of the Homestuck story. All titles appear to consist of two components - a "class" and an "aspect." A title can be assembled from any combination of class and aspect - John in the kids' session is the Heir of Breath, while in the Trolls' session Tavros is the Page of Breath and Equius is the Heir of Void. Aspects are a form of generalized "Elements", in that they are primal forces of reality. Classes describe mechanics and intended roles, "channeling" the Aspect into possible action and powers. Classes come in Active(-)/ Passive(+) pairs, with the active empolying or affecting his aspect directly and for his own gain, and the passive being affected by his aspect, and sharing his actions with the team. Do note though, that literal interpretation of the aspect's/class' names is misleading, i.e. "Prince" actually means "Destroyer", and "Light" means "Fortune". Heroes with different aspects can end up with very similar powers depending on their class. The Life and Doom aspects may be radically different, but depending on if the class their powers may end up being similar. Player abilities may also manifest in ways contrary to their aspect if they are heavily resistant to their true calling, or if an outside influence corrupts them. This happened to Rose Lalonde, and may have also occurred to other players in the Troll Session (as their entire society was corrupted by and ). The term " " can be used in lieu of the class when the speaker wishes to be generic, ie: John and Tavros are "Heroes of Breath". Both components of the title appear to have some mechanical effect on the game, although the precise nature of these mechanics has yet to be revealed, except for . Sburb may design planets with the titles in mind. For the kids one part seems to come from their aspect, while the other comes from their Associated Classical Element, or a force actively opposing it (Dark clouds in John's case and Frost in Jade's case). The Troll's lands mostly relate to their interests, but some show a clear connection to their titles. implies that every session will have a Hero of Time, and if the breeding duties are indeed linked to the Hero of Space they would be a constant in the game. Character Titles and Related Data Classes As stated above, uranianUmbra to Roxy Lalonde that there are passive classes (+) and active classes (-). She gives examples of this dichotomy with the Rogue/Thief pairing (Thieves steal to benefit themselves, Rogues are Robin Hoods), and the Bard/Prince pairing (Princes destroy their aspect or use it to destroy things, Bards allow the aspect to be destroyed, or bring destruction through the aspect). UU also explains that some of the classes tend to be assigned to males or females, some going as far as being exclusive to a certain gender. A few class mechanics were explicitly explained: Seer The Seer is a support and coordinator class. According to Aradia, they understand their aspect comprehensively, which makes them quite prescient in respect to their aspect (i.e., Terezi knows all consequences of individual actions, Rose knows the "most fortuitous path", and what happens in it). Knight The Knight serves as a protector for other players in the session. It is by Aradia that they are warriors that exploit their aspect as a weapon. Dave has so far saved the lives of every single member of his team, such as resetting the timeline to save John and Jade, and rescuing Rose from the Draconian Dignitary near the end of act five. Karkat is less successful in the role despite his best efforts. He does, however, manage to defuse the , which would have doubtlessly killed one or more of his surviving friends. The Knight may also have something to do with breeding the Genesis Frog, since in both sessions so far, the Knight has assisted the Hero of Space in the breeding. Rogue/Thief This pair of passive/active classes deal with stealing, and turning the other's powers against them. Vriska, as the Thief of Light, is able to steal luck from her allies or enemies, and make herself luckier. Rogues would enhance their teammates, or their session with the stolen aspect in order to exploit it. These classes are often assigned to female players, but not exclusively. Bard/Prince These classes deal with destruction. The Prince, as the active, is literally simplified to "destroyer of aspect" or "one who destroys via aspect". Bards are somewhat stranger, in that they "allow destruction of aspect" or "invite destruction through aspect". Eridan, as the Prince of Hope, killed a lot of his teammates and destroyed the Matriorb, the Troll's race hope of survival. Gamzee, as the Bard of Rage, could enter some sort of berserk mode, causing deep fear in everyone around, and becoming exceptionally strong. Later on he allows his Rage to be destroyed by Karkat. Bards and Princes are exclusively assigned to male players. Aspects Breath The Breath aspect seems to have some relationship to John's power over The Breeze (such as The Windy Thing). It was never revealed whether Tavros has or could have had equivalent powers, but since he spent most of his time in the game asleep or otherwise passive, it seems unlikely that he was able to complete whatever makes those powers available. However, as shown , Tavros's breath appears as blue lines similar to the Breath symbol. The significance of this is currently unknown. The associated Denizen of the Breath aspect is Typheus, who presumably fills the role for all Breath players. Light The Light aspect is equivalent to "fortune", and involves power over luck and fortuitous outcomes. Both heroes of Light have been able to see into Magic Cue Balls. The associated Denizen of the Light aspect is Cetus, who accordingly fills the role for all Light players. Time Time is one of the basic fabrics of Paradox Space. It is associated with the Timetables, time travel and exploits, and timeline maintenance in general. The Hero of Time also has a feature installed in their personal world in the Incipisphere: a large structure that will obliterate the alpha timeline and alternate it by rewinding everything to long before the game starts. It is a last resort, and would (ideally) result in better starting conditions. The associated Denizen of the Time aspect is Hephaestus, who presumably fills the role for all Time players. Space Space is the other basic fabric of Paradox Space. From Jade's display of powers, it seems that Space has to do with the size of things and their speed. It is also associated with the player whose Land contains their session's Forge. Both Kanaya and Jade live in similar homes, next to a Frog Temple, and their dream selves are both awake before entering the session. Having their planet's First Guardian as a guardian is also a parallel (Jade was effectively raised by Bec while Kanaya was 's "protégé"). Beyond this, both players of Space have been in charge of the breeding of the Genesis Frog. How many of these similarities are coincidences and how many relate to the space aspect is anyone's guess. The associated Denizen of the Space aspect is Echidna, who accordingly fills the role for all Space players. Mind The Mind aspect seems to be related to toughts and decisions of individuals. Terezi is able to what decisions will be made, and the outcomes of such decisions with her Seer of Mind powers. The Denizen associated to the Mind aspect is unknown. Heart UU relates that the Heart aspect is comparable to the "Soul", or essence of being. She also says that this aspect may cause splintering in the Hero's personality. This manifests in Dirk Strider's status as the Prince of Heart by having simultaneously awake real and dream selves, in addition to having created his auto-responder AI. However, no such splintering is observed in Nepeta. The associated Denizen of the Heart aspect is Yaldabaoth, who presumably fills the role for all Heart players. Life The Life aspect is some kind of innate "life force" of living beings, necessary and sufficient for life to exist. Life players have been able to , , and even . The associated Denizen of the Life aspect is Hemera, who presumably fills the role for all Life players. Void Void is associated with "the essence of lack, or nothingness" and "the obfuscation of knowledge, or its outright destruction". It seems to enable players to act without being seen or noticed, as evidenced by Darkleer's apparent ability to hide the Cue Ball from , Equius' similar talents during Vriska's struggles with the omniscient ballhead, and Roxy's occasional "dark patches" from the viewpoint of uranianUmbra. The associated Denizen of the Void aspect is Nyx, who presumably fills the role for all Void players. Speculation In , Kanaya speculates that Skaia assigns titles to players to challenge them, rather than to suit their strengths. This would certainly explain some of the apparent inversions, such as Rose being the Seer of Light despite her fascination with darkness and horror, and Jade's title as the Witch of Space despite her life never leaving her small island. However, her theory should be taken with a grain of salt, considering the titles of a lot of the players match them perfectly. It could be speculated that players are meant to "grow into" their roles; that is, when they first begin the session their title and its duties force them outside their comfort zone and seem very unsuited, but a fully realized Hero has matured into the role the game has assigned them. Trivia According to Andrew Hussie, other characters have also assumed these titles, or otherwise will when they ascend to the God Tiers. *Nicolas Cage is the Nick of Time *fedorafreak is the Gent of Piss *Andrew Hussie is the Huss of Lips **And, simultaneously, the Waste of Space. **He is also the Destroyer of Ships In Problem Sleuth, Problem Sleuth obtains the title by saving a universe. It is the only known "mythological role" outside of Homestuck. Category:Homestuck Category:Homestuck Concepts